


Another Vampire Romance

by Engineer104



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A happy-ish ending, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood and Injury, F/M, Fluff, I suppose, In a manner of speaking, Non-Graphic Violence, Sort of? - Freeform, Suggestive Themes, Vampires, you know typical vampire fiction stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: The path through the forest isn't the shortcut Katie hoped it would be, and the "haunting" isn't mere superstition after all.





	Another Vampire Romance

**Author's Note:**

> i swear the title is meant to be misleading and that this is a serious fic
> 
> also i totally made up the vampire lore. i don't know what's "real" lore and what's not. i'm hand-waving the time period and location too, as one does, but it's probably sometime in the nineteenth century and eastern Europe (think Dracula??)
> 
> in any case...Lazy Fic Writer presents "Still a Better Love Story than Twilight". enjoy!! <3

The forest wasn’t truly haunted as far as Katie could tell. Why should it be? She saw none of the restless spirits of a thousand soldiers, no ghosts that wandered the trees where they died lost, no demons lurking in the dark beyond the footpath, waiting for a single misstep to seize the soul of an innocent passerby.

No vampires crouching, a stalking predator lying in wait to take her by surprise.

But it was getting darker, shadows growing longer and sunlight barely penetrating the thick interlacing branches overhead, and according to Katie’s map she was still leagues away from the nearest village at the edge of the forest.

Maybe she should’ve taken the long, more populated route…but then she would’ve risked arriving for the start of her term late.

If only her family could spare her sooner - but if that was possible, she could’ve afforded to hire a wagon.

Brown leaves crunched underfoot as Katie trekked, the sound deafening in the stillness of the forest by evening. Even all the birds, so vibrant despite perching unseen in the trees, fell silent over an hour ago.

Suddenly Katie wondered if their silence was down to the time…or location.

A breeze stirred the branches, setting them rustling, and she clutched her cloak a little tighter around herself, shivering. She’d been walking with few breaks for the whole day, and her limbs and fuzzy mind longed to stop for longer than it took to rest her aching feet and relieve herself. But Katie needed to press on to the next village to avoid spending the night in the forest…although soon it would be too dark to read her map.

A low growl broke the stillness.

Katie froze, her eyes wide and a shiver traveling up her spine. Lions didn’t venture so far north…but did bears growl like _that_?

_I_ _’m being followed,_ she realized with dawning horror. She forced her feet to shift, muscles poised to flee at the first sign of a threat, as she tried to remember what, exactly, one did to avoid being mauled by a bear.

But what if whatever followed her wasn’t a bear but something _worse_?

“Evening, milady.”

Katie shrieked, arms flailing in a pitiful effort to defend herself as she jumped away from the…mild male voice. She opened her eyes - when did she close them? - and met the blue-eyed gaze of a boy that looked close to her age.

He didn’t look surprised at her reaction, only bemused judging by his slight smile and a thin, raised eyebrow. “I apologize,” he said, oddly formal as he rested a hand over his heart. “I forget how easy it is to sneak up on a human.” He spoke with the slightest accent that Katie couldn’t place, his skin too dark - like he spent hours in the sun - to name him local…and his clothes - a fine navy coat over the tight trousers that noblemen wore - worn by a journey, wrinkled with a few odd stains.

But he carried no bag, no water skin, no obvious weapon at his belt.

Curious, especially this deep in the forest.

He looked more than just disheveled too, his clothes torn in places, and his dark skin mottled darker with bruises on his jaw and under his eye.

What… _hurt_ him?

(And would it treat her the same?)

Katie cleared her throat in a pitiful attempt to compose herself; the mystery of the man’s sudden and strange appearance helped - she never really could resist a mystery. And his words… “Are you implying that you aren’t human?” she wondered with a laugh.

It sounded forced to her ears. How could he not be _human_? Yet her heart pounded in her ears, almost too loud in the eerie stillness of the forest - haunted, Katie remembered.

Well, perhaps there were more to those claims than mere superstition.

The man’s eyes - a shocking and almost _inhuman_ shade of the vividest blue - widened before he laughed, hands slipping into his coat pockets as he tossed his head back, exposing the narrow column of his throat. “It’s been too long since I spent time with the more ignorant members of your kind,” he admitted as if it was the most casual confession in the world, “but since you know…” He rubbed the back of his neck, gaze darting around, looking almost awkward. “Can you spare me a drink? I’d never ask a stranger, but I’m getting desperate, and you’re the first human I’ve met since I came here.”

Katie stared at him, growing more bewildered with every word that escaped his lips. Numbly she reached for the water skin dangling from her tote and held it out to him. “Uh…sure, you can have a drink,” she told him. “According to my map, there’s a stream not far from here, so I can refill—”

The man cut her off when he took the water skin. He went so far as to uncap it and sniff its contents - water, as if there was any doubt - before handing it back to her. “That’s…not what I meant,” he said with an oddly apologetic smile.

“Then what _do_ you mean?” Katie asked…although she already knew the answer.

She stumbled back a step, nearly tripping over an arching tree root that extended over the footpath, with her heart leaping into her throat. Her fingers found the silver cross dangling from her neck - a gift from her mother in happier times.

Stories of the thousand soldiers ordered by a despotic liege lord to march through this very forest only to disappear without a trace flashed through her mind, of travelers warned to journey the long way around, of playing children lost and never found.

“ _Vampire_ ,” she hissed, glaring at the man…though her heart raced faster than any warhorse, urging her to flee.

The man - the vampire - glanced down, at her hand gripping the cross. “That won’t protect you from me,” he warned, “anymore than it will from the ones of my kind that make this forest their home. Besides”—he smirked very slightly—”I’m a Christian too, milady.” He leaned towards her, like a predator crouching for the pounce - and she was the prey. “I swear it won’t hurt.”

Katie took another step back, looking him up and down. He was a whole head taller than her, lean with long legs, so if she ran for it doubtless he would catch her.

And as exhausted and achy as she felt after days of walking on foot, she couldn’t outlast him.

But the blood rushing past her ears, filling her with a panicky energy, urged her to try anyway.

So Katie turned and ran, air whistling past her as she wove around tree trunks. Her feet thudded against the ground, each step sending a shock reverberating through her body. She swung her arms to keep her balance as she nearly stumbled over roots, and the sound of her breathing and pounding heart filled her ears.

She didn’t halt till she tripped at the crest of a hill. Her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell to the ground with a gasp, her body rolling down too fast so all she could do to protect herself was tuck her elbows close to her sides and keep her mouth closed against swallowing any dirt.

She slowed to a stop at the base of the hill, panting and gasping for air, leaves and twigs stuck to her cloak and in her hair, tears in her baggy trousers where rocks and sticks caught in the fabric.

Tears - of pain, of panic and distress - pooled at the corners of her eyes while the world overhead spun, branches and leaves blurring dark green and gray. Her skin stung and smarted _everywhere_ , the scraped palms of her hands worst of all, but when she touched her aching temple, viscous red blood stained her fingertips.

Katie rolled onto her side, clutching her throbbing head and trying to keep her surroundings from spinning too far out of her control. She sat upright and reached for her tote at her back to rifle inside for her rolled up parchment map.

She drew it by hand based on her father’s old atlas; his library was the only thing she and her mother agreed to keep intact from their old estate, refusing to sell even a single tome, and she made sure to put it to good use.

She unrolled the map and slowly stood, head fuzzy as the ground tilted beneath her, but she kept her balance by leaning against a nearby tree trunk. She inhaled as steadily as she could, squinting at the map and trying to orient herself.

But it was too dark, the light of the full moon barely enough to make out any lines of ink on the parchment, much less what they symbolized.

So much for escaping the forest by dark.

Katie slid down the tree with a sigh, her chest tight and shoulders rigid. What if the vampire found her, injured and weak? She could barely keep her eyes open now that the energy of flight faded…

“Look at that, Zethrid,” a high, simpering voice intruded. “Can you believe it? I’ve never seen prey that did all the work for us.”

Katie blinked slowly, forcing her eyelids open despite the sleep trying to weigh them down, and stared up at three unfamiliar faces.

Their eyes, luminous in the moonlit darkness, glinted wickedly.

“It took all the fun out of the hunt, Ezor,” the largest figure complained with a snarl. Her nostrils flared, gaze falling to Katie’s forehead. “Such a waste of clean blood too…”

“She’s still worthwhile,” the third, shortest figure said, her voice cooler and more detached than the others. She crouched in front of Katie, fingers gently clutching her chin and tilting her head to the side to examine the cut on her temple. Her brow furrowed, nose twitching, and she mumbled, “But there’s something in her scent…”

“She’s barely a snack, Acxa,” the big one - Zethrid, Katie guessed despite her sluggish mind - whined. “And she’s already injured, so there’s no sport in this.”

“Lotor won’t care about that,” said Acxa.

“Of course not,” the first speaker, tall and willowy, agreed while she picked at her fingernail. “He only wants intruders to know whose territory this is.”

“And her injuries make that an easier task than usual,” Acxa pointed out with a nod.

Zethrid rolled her eyes but grunted, while Ezor grinned nastily. “She’s so small she’s not even worth sharing.”

Katie swallowed, heart constricting with a newfound fear. Perhaps she should’ve taken her chances with the vampire that _asked_ for permission.

But she curled one hand into a fist, her other closing around the hilt of her knife. She wouldn’t be able to run, not in her state, but she refused to let them drink her dry without a fight.

Acxa gripped her arm, wrenching her upright, but Katie swung her knife at her face with a scowl. The vampire dodged easily, her other hand closing around her flailing wrist and gripping so tight and wrenching her arm so sharply that Katie yelped in pain.

The knife slipped from her fingers.

Katie blinked burning, frustrated tears from her eyes. Was it really…was that really how easily the _smallest_ of them could overpower her?

But no, she couldn’t give up now; her mother still needed her, she had that coveted place she fought for at a renowned college, she _had_ to survive this and—

Zethrid lifted her effortlessly, but Katie thrashed, kicking her feet. Her boot collided with Ezor’s chest, but she didn’t even step backwards, just laughed and patronizingly patted her cheek.

“Is this enough of a fight for you, Zethrid?” she asked her burly companion.

Zethrid scowled. “She wouldn’t be able to crush a spider under her heel,” she grumbled. She hefted Katie over her shoulder, carrying her like a pathetic sack of potatoes with her legs dangling uselessly against her chest.

But Katie still fought, bellowing with all the air she could pull into her lungs. She tried punching Zethrid’s back, though the effort made the ground lurch all over again, and even twisting around to grab a fistful of her hair.

But it was useless, she started to realize. A sob burst out of her, her heart dropping into her stomach alongside a heavy knot of dread.

If she was barely a “snack”, why didn’t they just finish her now?

Ezor walked behind them, laughing and smirking in obvious mockery while she and Zethrid chatted, oblivious to - or reveling in - Katie’s fear. Only Acxa, who led the way deeper into the trees, further away from the footpath, traveled in silence.

Until a low and feral growl forced them to a halt.

“Back off!” the first vampire she ever met hissed. “I saw her first!”

Katie lifted her head, a weird flush creeping into her skin despite the rapid, frightened pounding of her heart. Her breath caught in her throat when her gaze fell on him, his body wound tight with his arms rigid at his sides, a livid scowl twisting his lips, and his eyes a blazing blue no one could mistake as human.

He looked just as threatening as the three vampires carting her away.

They turned to face him, and Katie lost her view. “You again?” Acxa said, though she sounded more weary than annoyed. “I thought we warned you off Lotor’s territory.”

“Can’t you see, Acxa?” Ezor sneered. “He’s lost his pet and wants it back.”

Katie glared at the ground and spat, “I’m not his—”

“I did,” the man agreed so quickly Katie forced her jaws shut despite the irritation filling her. “She’s smart for a human but gets lost so easily, and obviously she doesn’t understand the finer points of our politics when I warned her that she was trespassing on Lotor’s territory.”

Anger made her blood hot, but Katie wasn’t so thoughtless she’d dare to contradict him now. He was trying to free her, to talk her out of a situation she - and likely he, outnumbered three to one - couldn’t fight their way out of, but—

He probably just wanted her blood for himself.

Well, she preferred the vampire that might listen to reason to the three carrying her off to be devoured.

(Never mind that animalistic growl that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end…)

Katie held her breath, her heart pounding while she waited for them to deliberate, the silence thick with an awful tension, until at last Acxa said, “Do you swear to leave our territory by dawn?”

“Only if you return her to me,” he said, tone firm.

She didn’t reply immediately, so Zethrid said, “Wait, you wouldn’t—”

“Give her to him,” Acxa pronounced. “I can smell him on her, so he’s not lying.”

His _scent_? He didn’t even touch her earlier!

“What?” Ezor said, for once incredulous rather than mocking. “But if Lotor finds out we let a human - even another vampire’s pet - go free, then—”

“He won’t find out,” Acxa promised, “and if he does, I’ll take the blame.”

“See that you do,” Zethrid said with a hint of menace in her voice. But she dropped Katie unceremoniously to the ground. “I told you she wasn’t worth it…”

Katie curled in on herself with a pained hiss, her shoulder aching where it collided with the ground. Her head throbbed behind her eyes, so violently she barely heard the other three vampires’ retreating footsteps - but they moved so silently there might not have been anything to hear at all.

Nothing but the other lone vampire sighing as he slumped against a tree trunk.

Katie forced herself upright, crawling towards him and intent on telling him exactly what she thought of being called his “pet”, but any anger she felt evaporated when she spotted his eyes pinched shut, one hand clutching at his throat while the other bunched in the fabric of his trousers.

“A-are you…all right?” Katie wondered. Her hand hovered over his shoulder, unsure.

He didn’t look half as worthy of fear - half so dangerous - as he had a moment ago.

He shook his head, one eye cracking open. “Just so…thirsty,” he said, his voice hoarse. His gaze snapped to her forehead, and he extended his hand towards it before he seemed to think better of it. “You’re bleeding, milady.”

Katie’s eyes widened as she touched her temple, hair and skin sticky with blood; she forgot about the cut on her head. It almost hurt to raise an eyebrow, but somehow she managed it and asked tartly, “Is it enough blood for you?”

To her surprise he snorted, a smile flickering across his lips, but his piercing blue eyes were hazy when they fell on her face. “You wouldn’t happen to want to change your mind, would you?”

Something in Katie - perhaps compassion, the sort she usually reserved only for her family - stirred, along with a growing curiosity. What was it like, allowing a vampire to drink from her blood? “I…never did say no, did I?”

He shrugged. “If you say yes now, I won’t hold it against you, milady.”

“Why do you call me that?” Katie said, frowning. “And why did you…save me from them? I’m not your”—her lip curled—” _pet_.”

The vampire tilted his head back, letting it fall against the tree trunk, and admitted, “I know you’re not, but that was the only way to get them to let you go.” He sighed and offered her a real smile, the sort that filled her with an unfamiliar warmth. “And I don’t know what else to call you, but I’d like to know your name before I take anything from you.”

Katie bit her lip, fingers wringing the frayed edge of her dirty cloak. “Won’t it…turn me into one of your kind?”

“No,” he said quickly - almost _too_ quickly. All traces of amusement vanished from his face, something dark and bitter replacing them when he added, “It takes more than that to turn a human.”

Katie shivered - did she imagine the cool wind touching her skin? - and released a breath. “Then…stop calling me ‘milady’,” she said. “I’m not one.”

_Not anymore._

“You can call me Pidge,” she told him, leaning towards him while balancing on the balls of her feet. “And you…?”

“Lance,” he said, his grin returning as if it never left. He touched her elbow - mumbling an apology when she flinched in surprise - and jerked his head…asking permission.

Her heart raced anew. She licked her lips, wary all over again under his intense gaze; was she really considering this…letting Lance…do…well, she wasn’t even sure what it was she was thinking of letting him do besides drink her blood like a humanoid mosquito.

(And she could only try so hard to justify her intellectual curiosity.)

“It won’t hurt,” he promised her, “but you’ll have to relax.” His fingers traveled down her arms, goosebumps rising over her skin where he brushed it through a tear in her sleeve. He tugged her towards him though she already drifted in, his gaze holding her captive.

“I don’t…believe that,” she confessed, her mouth dry (soon enough she’d need a drink too).

“Y-you can still say no,” Lance said, though she sensed his reluctance.

Katie shook her head. “I-I give you permission,” she murmured, and pinched her eyes shut.

But her eyelids fluttered open again when Lance gently cupped her jaw and tilted her head to the side. Her breath caught in her lungs as he leaned in, and for one tense moment she thought he would kiss her.

Instead his cold lips met the sweat-sticky skin of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine, but she felt no hint of a breath warming her flesh.

A gasp escaped her when he sucked at the spot over her pulse, underneath her jaw, and finally something sharp punctured her skin.

A light pinch was all the pain Katie felt, all other discomfort overpowered by every other sensation flooding her senses:  her knees digging into the hard ground until Lance pulled her halfway onto his lap, his fingers digging into her hips over her belt, his soft lips on her skin, the chill of the evening cooling her too-warm flesh, the heat rushing to her face, the odd, sucking sound of a mouth drawing out her blood.

Her head spinning with a wave of dizziness if she so much as opened her eyes, his attention more intoxicating than any stolen wine.

Katie wrapped her hands around his muscular upper arms, tugging him a little closer - though she wasn’t sure if it was to steady herself or if she liked the feeling of his lithe body pressed against hers. She and Lance…they were strangers, yet she melted into him, seeking all he’d give to her of him, of his chilly touch traveling up her back and his strengthening arms surrounding her.

She’d never felt so close to - so _safe_ with - anyone, much less a man.

(But he wasn’t really a man, was he?)

Another pinch - another gasp passing through her lips - indicated Lance finished. He lifted his head, his large hand falling to her shoulder and his thumb rubbing a few drops of blood and saliva from where they slid down her throat.

Katie stared up at him, heedless that it only made her dizzier. His eyes deepened to a richer blue, and now that she saw him…sated, the frenetic energy she hadn’t noticed before was gone.

He looked calm, relaxed…almost fond when he smiled at her.

He licked his thumb clean of her blood - why did _that_ make heat pool in the depths of her abdomen? - before he cupped her cheeks with both hands. “How do you feel, Pidge?” he asked.

It was just a silly nickname, but the sound of it on his tongue pushed a giddy smile onto her face.

Oh, God, was this stupid infatuation a consequence of letting him feed on her?

It was too hard to think, her thoughts circling each other, and she could barely string two words together as she tried to say, “F-f—good, I…think.” She giggled, her hand resting against the side of his face. “Your eyes…pretty.”

Lance grinned…until it morphed into a frown and a little wrinkle formed on his forehead. “I think I fed too long…”

Katie nodded, but that simple motion only made her head spin and mind fog worse. Her eyelids fluttered, an irresistible sleep tugging at her, and she mumbled, “D-damn you, L-Lance…” She slumped forward, forehead falling against his chest, and stopped fighting.

Vampire or not, his arms weren’t a terrible bed…

* * *

Katie woke feeling sluggish like she slept too long in a too comfortable bed. She smacked her lips, blinking away the last cobwebs of dreams, and rolled onto her side.

She didn’t find her familiar bedside table, no book she stayed up too late reading, no clock mounted on the wall telling her she was late for the day’s first class.

Katie bolted upright, heart pounding as it all rushed back to her:  the forest, the chase, the vampires that captured her, _Lance_ …

Had he brought her here?

She lay back down, breathing deeply in an effort to calm herself before sitting up and throwing the thick blankets aside. She found the window more by sense of touch in the dark room, and when she peeked through the curtains…it was still dark.

Katie frowned, pressing her nose to the cold glass. Smudges of lamplight illuminated a street, and she looked to be on the second floor. Were any of the villages at the border of the forest large enough for an inn?

(And who paid for her room?)

With the little light streaming in through the window, Katie assessed her surroundings:  small bedroom just a little larger than her dormitory, her cloak draped over the back of a chair in the corner with her tote on the seat, a bandage wrapped around her head when she raised a hand to touch it…

Beyond the door to her room, floorboards and a wooden staircase creaked under the weight of feet, two different voices speaking too low for her to distinguish their words. But a door shut not far from hers, and Katie finally mustered the courage to emerge from her room and into the narrow, shadowed hallway.

Katie took the stairs as silently as she could. Her whole body tensed the closer to the ground she stepped, wary after the ordeal in the forest. She half-expected someone to jump out of a shadow, demanding her blood or her death (or both), but she made it to a small common room filled with simple wooden furniture - two tables and a few benches to go with them - without being assailed.

A relieved breath escaped her when her eyes caught on a familiar figure sitting on a stool beside a hearth of dimming coals.

She almost feared she imagined the vampire - Lance - and letting him feed from her; his teeth - his fangs? - left not a single trace on her skin, so all she had was a memory.

And him, glancing up at the sound of her footsteps and smiling so broadly he flashed white teeth.

(His canines _did_ look pointier than a human’s ought to…)

They were alone in the common room, so Katie guessed it was quite late. She sat in a stool across from him, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, and asked, “Why aren’t you asleep?”

It wasn’t…exactly what she wanted to - or should - say to him, but it was a start.

Lance raised an eyebrow, looking just a little amused. “I don’t need sleep,” he told her.

Heat filled Katie’s cheeks; she averted her eyes and mumbled, “I…knew that.” She cleared her throat, suddenly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “And…thank you for bringing me here.” She glanced towards him, and when his eyes widened she held her hands up and amended, “At least, I think it was you, but if it wasn’t—”

“It was,” he said quickly, as if to spare her further embarrassment, “but you don’t have to thank me since you let me feed.”

“Well, I guess it _was_ the least you could do since you made me pass out,” she grumbled, crossing her arms. She leaned towards the hearth, hoping to soak in what little warmth in it was left.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, sounding sincere. “Your blood was the best I’ve tasted in a while.”

For some reason, that compliment (for lack of a better word) made heat crawl up her skin and a smile she resisted pushed at her lips. But she couldn’t help grumbling, “I wish you’d at least asked me before bringing me to an inn. I can’t afford to pay for a room even for one night.”

“I took care of it,” Lance said.

Katie glanced sharply up at him, scowling. “What? You shouldn’t have!” She shot to her feet, probably more annoyed than the situation called for. “You’re nearly a perfect stranger to me—”

But was he, after she let him… _touch_ her like that?

“—and I refuse to be indebted—”

“Were you really planning on spending the night in the forest?” Lance cut her off. He scowled very slightly, his shoulders tensing and hands curling into fists in his lap; even his eyes - still that rich blue - glinted dangerously in the firelight.

Katie’s jaw snapped shut, chagrined. But irritation still gripped her, despite the anxiety churning her gut at the reminder of the vampires they ran afoul of, so she turned her back to him.

“Why do you care what I do?” she retorted. “You had your _snack_.”

When she dared to glance over her shoulder, he flinched. “Pidge…” His stool scraped against the wooden floor as he stood and approached, footsteps eerily silent. “Not all…of my kind are like them.”

She only glared at the floor through the irritated tears in her eyes, her chest tightening with something like shame. He’d already rescued her; did she have to cry in front of him too?

“Maybe you need a little more rest,” Lance suggested.

Katie shook her head and wiped her eyes, inhaling shakily before turning to face him. “I-I’m sorry,” she said. “You’ve been kind to me, even if it was out of obligation, so I thank you.”

(Her mother would be proud of her for remembering her genteel manners.)

She met his worried gaze and smiled, feeling a little steadier, and said, “You look better too. Your eyes…they change color?”

Lance blinked, looking bewildered by her rapid change in attitude, but laughed. “When I’m at my strongest, they look like this.” Then he smirked and added, “Before you fell into my arms, you said they were pretty.”

The way he said _fell into my arms_ filled Katie with a pleasant heat…and a profound irritation. But she bit back the worst of it and smiled. “Don’t let that compliment get to your head,” she said. “I don’t pay them often for a reason.”

“What reason?” Lance wondered, a teasing tilt to his lips.

“I’m not easily impressed.” Though…she had to admit, at least to herself, that Lance disguising his weakness long enough to stand up to those other three impressed her.

“Then I’ll have to find ways to impress you.”

Katie frowned, surprised. “Why?”

“You’re traveling to Altea, aren’t you?”

Her spine stiffened, wariness hitting her all over again. “How did you—”

“You dropped your map in the forest,” Lance said. He reached into his coat - it looked a little less unkempt, as if he had time to care for it while she slept - and pulled out a scroll:  her map, specked with dirt stains and slightly wrinkled but otherwise intact.

Katie snatched it away and leveled him with a glare. “Are you going to follow me now and ask for a snack every time you’re thirsty?”

“Of course not,” Lance said, “but I do have a proposition for you.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly very much the boy he resembled. “I’m traveling to Altea too, so maybe we can…journey together.”

“You want a reliable food source, you mean?” Katie crossed her arms and wondered, “What makes you think I’d agree to that a second time?”

But she would, she realized; even just thinking about it warmed her skin and made her heart pound and breath short, made her wonder if she could learn anything - about herself, about him - from experiencing it again.

Lance sighed - odd for someone that didn’t have to breathe - and rubbed his face. “That’s not—I suppose it would be nice but—that’s not what’s important!” He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets, throwing his head back and staring at the ceiling. “It’s not safe traveling alone, even for my kind, Pidge.”

And after the events of today - or was it the day before? - Katie believed it.

Her eyes narrowed. “Can you even travel by day?” she asked, still unsure if she could trust him whether he rescued her from hostile vampires or not.

Lance chuckled and replied, “So long as I wear a hat.”

“I can’t afford to hire a wagon, so I’ll be moving very slowly. Are you all right with that?”

“Whatever you want,” he agreed, nodding, “but it’ll be safer if we leave soon.” He grimaced, shoulders hunching in something like defeat. “I promised I’d be gone by dawn, and I don’t want Lotor’s minions paying this village a visit just to check on me.”

“I don’t…know.” God, how tempting Lance’s offer was…for who knew what she could learn about vampires from him?

Lance’s fingers, gentle yet cold, wrapped around her wrist, urging her to meet his eyes. “I swear I’ll keep you safe, Pidge.”

Katie bit her lip, considering. Safety…was that feeling with him some part of a vampire’s spell to lure her under, an all too willing victim in his ruse? She wore her brother’s old, over-sized clothes to avoid looking too much like a vulnerable girl, and yet…well, threats still found whomever they wished.

So Katie agreed to travel with a dangerous man she knew next to nothing about…because she felt more secure with him than she did alone.

It was scarcely the strangest thing that ever befell her.

**Author's Note:**

> i swore i would never write a vampire fic yet here we are ~~i had this idea last night and word vomited it today~~
> 
> if you liked it, you know what to do ;)
> 
> **Edit:** the wonderfully talented [artemisarya](https://artemisarya.tumblr.com/) did some amazing and slightly spicy fan art of the bite scene [here](https://artemisarya.tumblr.com/post/183910010231/vampire-plance-au-inspired-by-sp4c3-0dditys) so go forth and shower it with praise and notes!!


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